Socceroos seek redemption

[Rocky10]

Socceroos seek redemption

THE disappointment of the Asian Cup is still raw for Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, but he sees the MCG friendly against Argentina next month as a shot at redemption and a chance to move on.

The veteran goalkeeper admitted last night the Socceroos' exit in the quarter-finals was unacceptable after going into the cup as one of the favourites.

However the Argentina game on September 11 will give the Socceroos a chance to show their fans the Asian Cup effort was a glitch on the path to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"We were very disappointed with ourselves," Schwarzer said from England, where he plays for Middlesbrough. "We want to try to keep everyone on board and happy with the way we play.

"Sometimes you don't play as well as you would like, but the Argentina game provides a great opportunity to play well and show the public and supporters that's the way we can play. But it's important to play well against any team."

Not that Argentina, a two-time world champion and runner-up to Brazil at the Copa America last month, is any team, which adds to the prestige and drawing power of a friendly that was rescheduled after the South Americans withdrew from the original July date.

The quality of the opposition means the Socceroos will need to be at full strength and playing well to be competitive, especially if Argentina brings superstars such as Carlos Tevez, Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi, Hernan Crespo and Pablo Aimar to Melbourne.

"What's important is our performance," Schwarzer said. "Off the back of the Asian Cup, we've got to perform really well, so we're going to set out our stall to get a good result.

"They'll want to knock us down a little bit, so it's going to be a good game. They're one of the top three teams in the world and it's always great to play teams of this calibre."

Australia damaged its Asian Cup campaign with disappointing performances in its opening group games against Oman and Iraq, meaning it had to go on the road to face Japan in the quarter-finals.

While Schwarzer pointed to the oppressive heat and humidity as a major factor in the Socceroos' poor efforts, he did not shy away from the fact the Australians failed to meet expectations.

"The training we did was more than enough and we got together long enough," Schwarzer said. "Maybe we should have played another (warm-up) game, but at the end of the day we didn't perform on the pitch and that's what counts."

SOCCEROO Tim Cahill will see a specialist after a foot problem forced him from the field during a pre-season game with English Premier League club Everton.

The Australian had X-rays on his foot after limping off during a 2-2 draw at home to Werder Bremen on Wednesday.

It was Cahill's first outing for the Toffees since breaking a metatarsal in the same foot in March.

Socceroos v Argentina

Tuesday, September 11

MCG 7.30pm

Tickets: Ph 132849 or http://www.ticketmaster.com.au